"I wandered lonely as a cloud..."

Writing assignment: From a basketful, select a slip of paper with the first line of a poem, then use it as a topic sentence to develop its theme.

Page decoration: watercolor wash, illuminated capital 'I', embellished with gold composition leaf, ink

Artist: Carol Zika, 2006

Artful Journaling is where I have been channeling my creative energies these past few years. As the movement has grown (a surprise to me), I have been fine-tuning my own concept to include creative writing topics that serve as a reflection of one's life, values, thoughts and attitudes in a non-linear and very entertaining way. We concentrate in writing in our own voices, rather than on form, using what writing skills we bring with us. One recent retiree said to me, “I’ve been teaching first grade my entire career. I’ll sound like a first grader.” And so be it, I responded. It will be authentic.